Back-to-back jacks highlight win

Friday, May 3

Phoenix, Ariz.

6:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

26-19, 12-7

CSU Bakersfield

19-29, 7-12

CSU Bakersfield

Grand Canyon

5/3/2019 10:31:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Late 2-out hits by Pavlica, Quiggle seal opener

By: Josh Hauser

Grand Canyon rallied with three unanswered runs for a 6-4 win against CSU Bakersfield in the Friday night series opener at GCU Ballpark.

The Lopes (26-19, 12-7 WAC) faced deficits of 2-0 in the second inning and 4-3 in the sixth but responded each time to win their ninth game in 10 tries.

"If someone scores in the top, score in the bottom," GCU senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt said. "It's being relentless, it's coming back, it's answering. We stay on it."

GCU followed that blueprint by responding to a two-run second inning from CSU Bakersfield (19-29, 7-12 WAC) with three runs in the home half. Junior left fielder Kona Quiggle drew a leadoff walk before Wyatt launched his fourth home run of the season and second in the past two games.

"I just told myself I'm going to see something up," Wyatt said. "The second pitch ended up being a fastball on the inner third and ended up being belt high. I saw it right out of the hand and I went for it, and it went out of the park."

Sophomore first baseman Cuba Bess followed Wyatt with a solo shot to give GCU the lead.

"He hit it good," Wyatt said. "Especially with two strikes, that was really good. He stayed through it, he stayed on it. You know Cuba, he has a lot of power and he's been swinging it really well."

The Lopes hit back-to-back home runs for the second time this season, following the Brock Burton-David Avitia act in an April 2 win over UNLV.

CSUB scored two times in the sixth to regain the lead before GCU tallied runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth wins to secure the victory.

Lopes senior center fielder Preston Pavlica hit a two-out single in the sixth to tie the score. Quiggle lined a ball off the outstreched glove of the first baseman and into right field to give GCU a one-run lead with two outs in the seventh. The Lopes added insurance in the eighth after drawing four consecutive walks with freshman shortstop Jonny Weaver picking up the RBI.

Sophomore pitcher Coen Wynne closed out the ninth inning for the first save of his career.

"Coen was outstanding," GCU pitching coach Rich Dorman said. "He came in and attacked the zone and pitched to contact. He did a great job picking up the save. It's great to have guys who can finish the ballgame. It was his time tonight."

Fellow sophomore reliever Nick Hull surrendered the lead in the sixth but bounced back to face the minimum in the seventh. Thanks to Quiggle's go-ahead hit, Hull earned his second victory of the season.

"It's good to get the win but too many freebies tonight," Dorman said. "We needed to do a better job of challenging these guys."

Lopes freshman Pierson Ohl grinded out five innings of two-run baseball and exited with a lead in hand. Ohl uncharacteristically walked three batters but relied on strong defensive plays to get out of jams.

"He was good," Dorman said. "I think he wasn't as crisp as his last outing. He competed. That's why he's taking the ball every seventh day because he's a great competitor.

CSUB outhit GCU 9-7, but the Roadrunners did not record an extra-base hit. The Lopes had the home runs by Wyatt and Bess and a double by Burton, the sophomore designated hitter.

The teams combined to walk 17 batters with GCU drawing 10 walks.

GCU can clinch its third consecutive conference series win with a victory on Saturday, when the Lopes will gun for their eighth straight WAC win.

"We sputtered a little bit in the beginning," Wyatt said. "We hadn't found ourselves, and recently we've started to find ourselves. Guys are getting hot. Things are starting to fall for certain people."

Saturday's first pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.